Monday, July 1, 2013

Unlike
most of the students I interview for this blog, I have known Margaret
Clary for several years. We met as freshmen, when we were both new to
James Madison and unsure about our majors. She graduated this past
May with a degree in Art and a concentration in Metals and Jewelry.
When she sat down to speak with me she wore a ring that she had made
in one of her classes. She doesn't think it is anything special, but
I disagree. The ring is simple, a silver band set with a large blue
stone, and I was so impressed with it that I couldn't wait to see a
piece that she was really proud of.

Margaret's Bronze cast bracelet

“I
prefer bracelets,” she says. “I hate wearing them, but love
making them. I just made a piece that turned out really well. I made
it in wax first, then cast it in bronze and set a stone in the
middle. It took about thirty hours, which is usually the norm.”

With
a single piece taking thirty hours, Margaret is understandably busy.
Her fascination with art began her freshman year in high school when
she took a class with her now favorite teacher, Diego Sanchez.
Although it was an art class, he also taught them art history and
style, which really helped to make the whole process more interesting
for her. When Margaret got to college she was interested in graphic
design, but because of difficulties with credit hours she switched to
metals and jewelry, and has loved it ever since.

A handmade wire bracelet with metal flowers

“My
style is very nature-esque, I suppose. Organic. I do a lot of vine
work, and I love anything to do with flowers. I wish I had a green
thumb, but instead I bring it out in my metal work. Nature inspires
me, and I love going on walks and seeing different plants and trees.”

With
jewelry making, Margaret's favorite part is the portability of her
work. It is impractical to carry around a sculpture or a painting to
show everyone, but with jewelry she gets to wear her pieces and share
them. Getting recognition for hard work is incredibly satisfying,
especially considering how much time and effort go into a single
piece. Oftentimes, she says, people forget how much work and
dedication goes into art.

“It’s
very frustrating,” Margaret says. “A lot of people make fun of me
for being an art major, since I usually don't have regular exams and
whatnot. I don't think some people realize how much time I put into
things, and how much art means to me and other people. I've pulled
many all-nighters, and with art you can keep working and not ever
really finish.”

Several
of the students I have interviewed have said similar things, that
their artistic efforts are not always appreciated or taken seriously.
But they all say that their art has changed them.

“Metals
have definitely pushed my limits,” she says. “In my first class
we had to use torches, and I was terrified of fire! I even burned my
hair. I was pushed to do things I thought I couldn't do.”

Metal flower pendant

Now that Margaret has graduated from JMU, she hopes to return to
graphic design. Although she would love to get more experience with
metal working, and perhaps intern with a jewelry designer, her real
passion is for graphic design. She wants to go into advertising,
hopefully staying around Richmond, where she has lived most of her
life. Whatever medium she chooses, being an artist has made an
impression on her life.

“Art
has made me notice the beautiful things around me,” Margaret says.
“I take my time and look around and enjoy how beautiful it all is.
I think art does that for a lot of people. It makes you look for the
good in everything. I know I do.”

Friday, June 7, 2013

Diane
Livick is not the usual college student. She attended James Madison
University from 1975 to 1978 and received a degree in Art Education.
She has worked as a children's behaviorist, served in the military,
and after her children were grown she became a nurse. Now, years
after she received her art degree, she is returning to her roots.

“Thirty-some
years later, and I really missed clay,” Diane says. “It's a
medium that is so versatile. You can make it look soft, make it look
hard like metal. If you enjoy working with it, and you haven't in a
while, it is so satisfying to go back.”

Diane
came to Blue Ridge Community College last year to take classes in
sculpture and ceramics. She has her own kiln and wheel at home now,
so she is able to work on her own time. Working outside the classroom
allows her a lot of freedom, where she is the only judge.

Diane
brought in several bowls she had thrown recently as a part of a
collection inspired by radio telescopes she saw last summer at the
Space Race Rumpus. It was the first annual bike ride and festival in
Green Bank, West Virginia, to raise money for a wellness center. It
is hosted by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, with the
second annual race coming up next week.

“I
decided I needed to do something visually with it,” Diane says.
“I've got the four bowls here, and I'm made nine or ten, and I will
probably get to twenty. First I throw them and work on developing a
shape I like, then I'm going to work on color patterns. I keep notes
on different glazes I've done, and then I decide if I want to do
water colors, free-form, a constellation or a dark sky...”

One
piece that caught my eye is a bowl colored with a deep blue glaze. It
is speckled with textured dots of white and streaks of gold, and
instantly reminded me of Van Gogh's Starry Night. Even with all of
the years between then, both artists found inspiration in the night
sky.

"European Mount, Unknown Species", a Raku piece

Although
this collection is made of thrown pieces, throwing pots is not
Diane's “thing”. She prefers hand-building and sculptural works,
finding her inspiration from nature and storytelling. She especially
loves myths and creation stories, and making them visual.

“We
need those stories – we need stories that have been told again and
again. Until they're worn smooth as stones. That seems to be missing
now, too. I think we move too fast in our society and I hope that
parents are telling stories to their kids, because there need to be
good stories to give to kids.”

One
of Diane's goals while taking classes at Blue Ridge has been to
create a quantity of quality pieces for entry into a juried show. She
had several pieces in shows when she was working on her undergraduate
degree, including her favorite piece, “The Mountain Jar.”

“It
shows a cabin up on the mountain with a stream and the clouds. That
is because I always wanted to live in a cabin,” Diane says.
“Self-fulfilling prophecy, I suppose. I forget what the assignment
was, but we were well invested in it. I've guarded that piece to be
sure it won’t get broken. It’s already made it thirty-some
years.”

"Hillis Plot Bowl II"

The
pieces Diane creates don't always follow her original plan. Somewhere
along in the process an idea sometimes doesn't fit. Whether it is a
quick piece that only takes a few minutes to throw or a more complex
piece that takes weeks to form, there is no way to be sure what the
final outcome will be.

Ceramics
is not the only art form that Diane enjoys. She does photography,
painting, and is a musician. She’s recently returned to two
dimensional art, where her style begins to really stand out. In
ceramics she has an underlying theme to her pieces rather than a
style, but with her paintings she tends to be illustrative. She has
been working on a series called Sundown Serenade, in hopes of
illustrating a children's book. With scenes of fireflies playing
banjos and the three tenor frogs, her paintings spring out from the
canvas out onto the frames

Diane, in red, firing a Raku piece at BRCC

Diane
is happiest when she’s creating. “Because I'm a nurse, I'm gonna
analyze myself a little bit,” she says with a smile. “There's a
motor pleasure-driven rewards circuit that comes from making
something, from actually doing something. We're genetically wired to
have pleasure when we do this for our own survival. I think a lot of
society has lost this.”

Last
summer she and her son, who is a tattoo artist, were a part of a show
in Dayton, hosted by a local artist. Seeing so many young artists
driven to share their art inspired Diane to keep on with her own work
and be a part of this community. This past Memorial Day weekend Diane
showed her work at Staunton Art in the Park, and some of her pieces
were recently shown in the Blue Ridge Literary and Arts Magazine.

“Creative people tend to see things a little differently, and
approach the world a little differently,” Diane says of her fellow
artists in Dayton. “The collection of artists were all unique, all
pushing boundaries. It really inspired me to want to be around people
who see things a little differently.”

It is never too late to pursue what you love, as Diane has proven.
Even after she raised her children and worked for years as a nurse,
she returned to her pottery roots, and is determined to share her
creations with the world. She has never stopped learning, and I am
determined to follow her lead.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Lisa
Dragani comes from a family of artists. Her mother and grandfather
were both painters, and art has been an important part of her life
since she was a child.

“When
I was really little, my mom would always encourage me to go outside,”
Lisa says. “She would get big pieces of paper and acrylic paint and
have me go out in the yard and paint. I loved it, and she loved it
because it got me out of the house.”

In
high school Lisa took classes in graphic design. She originally
planned to focus on that when she came to James Madison University
four years ago, but she soon realized her real passion was for
painting.

“It's
a messy thing, but it can be clean, and it's a form you can play with
a lot. It's just the medium I'm most comfortable in.”

When
it comes to painting, Lisa has tried a little bit of everything. For
a few summers she painted pet portraits, getting several commissions
from local pet lovers who wanted to immortalize Rover. When she
paints for herself she enjoys doing still life's and landscapes. She
is inspired by abstract and surrealist artists, such as Salvador
Dali, although she herself isn't a big abstract painter. At JMU she
had the opportunity to try other art mediums, such as metal and
jewelry working, but nothing appealed to her the way painting has.

Lisa and her piece at the JMU Undergrad
Art Show

Lisa's
favorite piece got into the JMU Undergraduate Show this past spring,
a juried collection that allows students to showcase their work. For
this particular piece she put a bit of a twist on the traditional
canvas.

“I
went to the woodshop and had the teacher help me make a 3D base,”
Lisa says. “Kind of like a skate ramp, so the center is closest to
the wall, giving it a kind of panoramic feel. I did like a weird drip
oil painting of Richmond, with the reflection of Richmond on the
James River.”

This
painting was one of the few Lisa has been really satisfied with.
Pieces can take weeks, if not months, before they are finished, and
even then there have been pieces that Lisa has considered painting
over and starting again. But it is when she finishes a painting, and
is really satisfied with it, that Lisa is happiest.

But
painting doesn't always end with a perfect finish. Everything from
disliking a still life model to working on a tight budget can present
an obstacle for art.

“Honestly,
the hardest part for me is patience,” Lisa confesses. “I consider
myself a very patient person, but I've been working a lot with oils
and it takes a long time to dry. If you do something you don't like
you just have to sit there and take it. You have to realize it's
going to be on there for a while and you have to come back in a few
hours to fix it. Sometimes you're sitting there hating a mistake and
time goes by and you find yourself liking what you had hated, even finding things you love about it.”

Lisa
has a variety of plans now that she has graduated from JMU. She got a job working at a winery, hosting wine tastings part time, which
will give her time to continue painting and look for the kind of work
she really wants. Pet portraits were fun, but she doesn't want that
to be the only kind of painting she does. Websites such as Etsy allow
artists to sell their work independently, and Lisa plans to create an
account to share her pieces.

Lisa's
big dream would be to someday open up a coffee shop and bakery, where
she can showcase her own art as well as the work of local artists.
Baking is another one of her passions, and she hopes to go to
culinary school this fall and take some classes. Coffee, muffins, and
beautiful art? You can expect to find me writing in the corner with a
big cup of coffee. Until then, Lisa will continue with her painting,
and she can only get better.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

This
past weekend James Madison University's Class of 2013 crossed the
stage at graduation. Along with my classmates, I have received a
degree from this incredible university, and have my sights set on new
horizons. But I will still be blogging for all you readers out there.

The
past two weeks have been hectic, and I will be spending the next week
and half on a trip, but I will return to blogging as soon as I am
back in the area. You can look forward to interviews with two
wonderful JMU art students, a very talented ceramic student from Blue
Ridge, and a special double interview with two singers from
Washington and Lee. So please be patient with a stressed recent
graduate in need of some tropical sun, and stay tuned!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Among
his group of friends, James Souder is the one who always has a
camera. He uses photography
to capture moments, but even without a camera he says that being a
photographer has changed the way he sees the world.

“My
friends like that about me,” he jokes. “I like to capture
interactions between people, but I think the act of just noticing
lets me appreciate what's happening, and see more.”

James
is a senior Environmental and Social Sustainability major at Eastern
Mennonite University. He used to be a Photography major, but switched
it to a minor after realizing how much he enjoyed the variety of
classes offered in his new major. Even though photography may not
take center stage on his diploma, it remains a huge part of his life.

James
was in high school when he picked up a camera lying around his
family’s house and started taking photos. He began taking classes
and entering his work in competitions, winning several awards in high
school. I asked him about the first photograph that really stuck out
in his memory, and James smiled as he recalled it.

“The
first photo I am really proud of,” he muses. “There was a bird's
nest I saw, and I just reached up the camera and snapped a photo. The
baby birds thought I was their mother, and there were a couple of
blue eggs, and it was just really framed well.”

One of James's photos from an early morning plane ride
over the Shenandoah Valley

At
EMU he continued to take classes in photography, but explored some of
his other interests as well. His very extensive interests. James has
four minors: Photography, Biology, Economics, and International
Development. Along with a heavily loaded class schedule, he is also
part of the Earth Keepers club, Sustainable Food Initiative Club, is
senior class co-president, and plays saxophone in a jazz band. I have
absolutely no idea how he managed to come and speak with me, let
alone have the time to work on his photography. When we spoke he was
preparing for his first job the following day as a wedding
photographer. He had done engagement photos, and had been asked to do
weddings, but this is the first time he's been confident that he has
the ability (and the equipment) to take on such a responsibility.

James
spent one summer working for the Summer Peacebuilding
Institute at EMU, where he was a community assistant. He was not
hired as the photographer, but he was one anyway, taking the class
photos and taking pictures of the various events. No matter what he
ends up doing, it seems that James always find time for photography.
He interned with an urban farm in Philadelphia last summer, where he
worked on social media and was the main photographer.

The
term “urban farm” caught my ear, and James was kind enough to
explain it to me.

“It
was a really cool internship,” he says. “They took a vacant lot
in the city, a place where an old warehouse had burned down. They
cleared it out, brought in topsoil, and were able to have a really
productive garden. It involved community members in the process of
planting, and they now have a farm

At the urban farm in Philadelphia

stand right there on site. Their
mission is to take places that were unattractive or provided places
for crime, and make a beautiful places for people to gather and use
the land productively. They’ve definitely noticed a huge
improvement in the community, just the way people interact
and respect their neighborhood.”

James
is a senior, so his time at EMU is almost up, but he has big plans
for the future. For the next year
he will be in Pittsburgh, as an intern in a program called PULSE
(Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience). It is a way to
transition from college to jobs, as he and several other recent
graduates will live in a house together and be able to explore the
city. Although his internship will be environmentally focused, James
hopes to be able to use photography in it.

James
has already begun looking past the PULSE internship, and planning
beyond it. He is in the process of applying for the Peace Corps,
to see more of the world and apply his skills in places that might
need him. Graduate school is another option. He hasn't been planning
to make photography the focus of his career, but his
studies have affected the way he approaches photography, as well as
his view of the world.

“The
process is really important to me-- how you go about gaining the
image. Like if you’re in someone's face, rather than like getting
to know the person and appreciating them as more than an object to be
photographed. Just respecting what is around you. . . it has helped
me appreciate things.”

James is on a
mission. He is truly passionate about the environment and helping
those around him, and is going on to great things. He may not make
the camera the focus of his career, but he will keep it in hand to
document his adventures.

Friday, April 19, 2013

If you happen to be listening to the radio on
a Sunday afternoon and are looking for something new, I would have to recommend
turning the dial to WXJM 88.7. There are a number of music shows that their
website lists as “Freeform”, but if you tune in between two and four you will
find yourself part of the audience of the “Nate and Eric Awesome Show, Great
Job!”

Eric and Nate at the WXJM radio station

Eric
Cecchett, a Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communications major at JMU, came
in to speak with me about his show and endeavors. He transferred to from
Northern Virginia Community College last fall, and immediately started working
on his radio show.

“I
had a bunch of friends that have radio shows at their respective colleges,”
Eric says. “It was something I wanted to do before coming to a university. I
very much enjoy music, and it holds a lot of significance for me. It is a very
personal experience but I also enjoy externalizing that and sharing with
people.”

Eric
and Nate each create an hour long playlist every week for their show, playing
“Indie” music and working to spotlight lesser known bands. They have similar
tastes and occasionally find they selected the same songs for their playlists,
although according to Eric, Nate tends to enjoy some of the more “Folky”
sounding music. They started their show last semester, originally with the
12-2am Saturday night time slot. With their new Sunday afternoon slot they
presumably have a much larger audience, although Eric does miss being able to
loudly blast their music in an empty studio.

Eric
has played guitar for a few years, but he does not play often or create his own
music. His passion is in existing art, not in producing his own. Whether it be
music, films, or writing, he is a fan of popular culture in all of its outlets.

“I
love all kinds of culture,” he says. “I just have trouble with creation.”

His
creative idol is director Paul Thomas Anderson, the mind behind films such as Punk
Drunk Love and There will be Blood. Although Eric doubts his own
creative abilities, saying “I don't think I have the capacity to do what he
does,” he would love to work with, and be a part of, the movie industry.

In DC this past winter

Eric
was drawn to the WRTC major because of his love of writing. It came naturally
to him in high school so he gravitated toward it. As he is a perfectionist and
compares his own writing to other's work, he’s never quite satisfied with his
work. This past semester in particular he has been working on gaining more
confidence, writing reviews for some of the movies and music he enjoys. He even
created a blog titled “Building Nothing Out of Something” where he can share
some of his writing.

“I
try to immerse myself in critique and let people read,” Eric says. “That's why
I put it out there, so I can get used to that exposure. Right now I'm going
easy on myself, writing reviews on things I really like, which I think is a lot
easier than reviewing something you don't like or are indifferent about.”

Eric's
ideal job would be to be a film critic, to spend his days writing and watching
movies. He admires the confidence of writers who are able to put something as
personal as their own work out in the open and share it with the world.

“It
bewilders me that people can do that,” he says. “They write a piece and decide
that it is good enough for them, and so good enough to be read by millions of
people.”

The
best way to get better at writing, and to know that it is good enough for the
millions who might read it, is to write. With his busy schedule balancing
classes and the radio show there is not always time to write, but Eric is
trying to make time. He tries not to think of it as work, worried that may take
some of the enjoyment out of it, and hopefully someday he will be able to do it
full time. He posts his reviews at EricCheck.blogspot.com, and although he does
not post often he is trying to change that. The best way for him to have faith
in his work is to share it with the world, and to keep writing.

Stay tuned next week for my interview with Eastern Mennonite University's James Souder.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Tara
Bonanno started dancing in fourth grade. She began with tap dancing,
and soon added jazz and modern ballet, devoting her free time to
movement. It wasn’t until high school that she became a serious
dancer, and by then she was hooked. Dance remains her passion as she
moves on through college, and she hopes to continue it after
graduation.

Tara
is a junior at the University of Virginia. She is a Commerce major, a
unique program at UVA that incorporates all aspects of business. With
her dance minor, Tara has a busy schedule, but she was able to take
some time to have a conversation with me about why she loves
it so much.

“I
wanted to be able to go to a school where I would be able to take
dance classes,” Tara says. “I didn’t plan on minor-ing until I
got to UVA when I realized how important it was to me, and how much I
missed dancing around the clock.”

The
program is relatively new, and only offers a minor, but it has a
range of lecture and studio courses that help to create a
well-rounded dancer. Half of the program is technique, and half is
creating an intelligent dancer – one who can critique and
understand dance and its history.

“I
was really attracted to the formal program since it is a smaller
group of students – you draw those who were really committed and
excited about dance. You don’t get lost in the group as another
faceless student or dancer. And a lot of these dancers created their
own work, which, when I was a freshman, was something really daunting
but exciting to me.”

Tara
has a taste of many styles of dance, everything from tap to West
African, but her favorite is modern. To her, it has the most freedom
with creating movement, and pulls from a variety of techniques. It is
not the most difficult style for her (ballet holds that title), but
this style does demands a great level of skill and ability that can
create a versatile dancer.

With
a background in martial arts (she did Tae Kwon Do for eight years),
Tara really enjoys exciting dances that incorporate strong and powerful
movement. This was an aspects of various West African styles that she
particularly liked. Its visceral quality captured her attention, and
although she has only done a small amount through master classes,
this is one style that she would love to continue.

The
dance program has two formal performances a year, a Fall and Spring
Concert. It is choreographed by faculty as well as students, and Tara
is creating a piece for the upcoming concert. Last semester she
choreographed her first dance, choosing to do a modern piece that was
light and upbeat.

Backstage with her dancers from the 2012 Fall Concert

“My
choreography comes from an emotional state of being that is important
to me. It directly translates to movement. My last piece was inspired
from a billboard that I pass on the way to work... its old and
someone painted “Gratitude” on it in huge orange letters. It was
a good reminder to me to be thankful, and fueled a lot of movement.”

This
semester she draws her inspiration from art. Tara is working with
several UVA art students and using their work to inspire her dancers.
She brings different pieces to all of the practices and has her
dancers improvise based on the art work. Every night that they dance
they create something new.

“It
is hard to pinpoint why I dance,” Tara said near the end of our
conversation. “In class, or in performance, you can see something
in another person when they are completely invested in dance. You can
see the tiny moments that you feel in yourself... you tap into this
subconscious burst of movement... Its something I haven’t been
able to find in any other sort of art form or activity.”

In
one of my own classes my professor jokes that students can read an
excerpt from their essay or perform an interpretive dance. So far
none of us have taken up the dance offer, but I wonder if Tara would
if she were in the class. There are some feelings that are difficult
to convey through words, but there can be so much power in movement
that at times it may be able to speak for us.

“Communicating
through body language... it connects your intellect with your body
and your soul,” Tara says. “It has become very relevant to how I
see things and how I learn.”

Tara
will be performing in the Spring Dance Concert on April 11th
and 12th
at 8pm, and April 13th
at 2pm and 8pm, in the Helms Theatre at UVA. She says it is unlikely
she will dance professionally after graduation, but for now, the
stage is hers. Next week I will be posting my conversation with Eric Cecchett, a junior at James Madison University.